Actually, red, I gotta disagree with you. I feel, and I know many others do as well, that UNIX is NOT a good development platform. Sure, you have this powerful Command Line Interface - so what? Humans do not work that way. The reason the GUI was considered such a huge advance is because it WAS. Even the ability to open four small term windows, each a complete CLI, and see all of them at once is a huge advantage. Add things like inline spell-checking, good Copy/Paste systems, and an interface that automates as much as possible, and you make for an interface that makes almost ANYTHING more efficient than it is with a CLI, including writing code. CLI is powerful, yes, but it's not perfect. It's a hammer, and a good one, but sometimes you need a scalpel.

As it happens, I think the documentation that comes with the core of Perl is pretty good. On the other hand, I *DO* think Perl should dissociate itself from Unix. Why? Because Perl is a tool. It's a great tool, as perfect for its purpose as any - but its purpose is to make live easier for systems admins and web developers. And despite what the hype would have you believe, the internet is NOT UNIX. It never will be. The internet is ANY operating system. Perl should be, too. Take with it what we like about Unix, certainly. But just because Unix was the cradle of Perl doesn't mean Perl should stay there. You can't live in the cradle forever.